Rémi Cloutier - Racer, ski association officer

Rémi Cloutier, 84, a lifelong promoter of Canadian skiing, died Dec. 4 in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, his home town.

In 1948, he won the Canadian Junior Downhill Championship at Mt. Norquay, Alberta, but broke a leg before the 1950 FIS championships. He went on to a successful career in the pulp-and-paper industry, which enabled him to devote thousands of hours to supporting young athletes and ski-sport organizations. He served as vice-president of Ski Quebec, president of the Laurentian Ski Division, president of the Ste-Agathe Ski Club, vice president of the Canadian Ski Association, a director of the Canadian Olympic Association and founding member of Canadian Sports Marketing Council.

Cloutier had a parallel career in water skiing, reaching the final round of the 1956 Canadian championships and going on to compete in the 1957 World Championships. With his brother Marc, he produced 762 water-ski shows at the Montreal World's Fair, Expo 67.

During the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games Cloutier served as consultant to the Otto Jelinek, Minister for Sport in the Canadian federal government, and acted in the same capacity for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia. He was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2013 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Canada Games Council.

He is survived by his wife Kay, his children Karen (Peter), Tom (Rachel) and Rémi Jr, his grandchildren Isabel, Charles, Stephanie, Heather, Daniele, Tyler, great-granddaughter Amira, brothers Louis, Yvon and Marc.